• Information Technology
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• Associations
• Aviation / Aerospace
• Medical Technology
• Pharmaceuticals
• Specialty Manufacturing

 Soundings Research exists to better understand human decision making.  

Have you ever carried out a quantitative research study, large or small, got the numbers back, found the statistics interesting, but wondered, beyond the usual demographics, just what the underlying reasons were for certain behavioral propensities?

I have over 30 years of research experience, and I have always been fascinated by the lack of content backing up major research studies. Perhaps it is because I began my career as an ethnographer, but I have never been comfortable drawing conclusions from data without first knowing the decision making context within which individuals carry out their choice making behavior. 

Oh, and by the way, market research is about behavior, not about the business of collecting massive amounts of data points. Often practitioners forget that the end goal is that we wish to understand and/or affect behavior.  Qualitative research, especially on-site fieldwork using ethnographic techniques, is perhaps our most valuable research tool capable of illuminating the reason for certain behaviors. To be sure, qualitative research has its limitations (try predicting an election with a focus group), but when you want to know the subtleties of decision making, there is no better means than direct observation and talk.

Soundings Research was formed to help bring to light the complexities of decision making, wherever that decision making behavior exists. Uncovering individual stories and placing their lessons into a context that is informative as well as actionable is a part of the business of Soundings Research that is most compelling and of which I am most proud. 

I invite you to examine closely what you are trying to accomplish with your research, especially take a careful look at the desired outcomes. Will you have the right information about how and why decisions are made?